Chlorine dioxide as an alternative disinfectant for disinfection of oyster mushroom growing media

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of ClO2 on disinfection of two different growing substrates commonly used in oyster mushroom cultivation. Cottonseed hull (CSH) and wheat straw (WS) were immersed for periods of 10, 20, 30 and 40 min in different ClO2 concentrations (2, 4 and 8 mL/L). The control substrates were immersed in just water at the same times. Efficiency of treatments was evaluated for yield, biological efficiency (BE) and average mushroom weight. Yield and BEs ranged between 93.8–348.5 g/kg and 29.3–108.9% in CSH and 55.3–314.0 g/kg and 14.6–89.7% in WS, respectively. The highest yield and BE were obtained at 4 mL/L concentration of ClO2 and 30 min immersion time in WS and at 4 mL/L concentration of ClO2 and 20 min immersion time in CSH substrate. The results revealed that ClO2 would be a viable and promising technique for disinfection of substrates for oyster mushroom cultivation.